Looking through Earth’s permafrost archive.

Permafrost consists of soil and rock that remains permanently frozen, sometimes layering up to several hundred meters deep. About a quarter of the land area in the northern hemisphere is permafrost, with most of these soils located in polar regions or high mountains. If this permafrost thaws, however, large amounts of greenhouse gases could be released into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming. If this occurs, thawing permafrost would have not only a local impact but also consequences for the global climate and people everywhere in the world. 

Unfortunately, numerous interactions between permafrost soil and its surroundings make the scientific task of accurately assessing the risk quite difficult. This is why researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute embark on expeditions to the polar regions every year, aiming to understand the complex processes in permafrost and to assess how likely it is to decay in the future.

(Header: Alexander Kizyakov)